Why Facebook is not a substitute for a business website

By Jenny Hopkins

ISJ Media

jhopkins@journalnet.com

208-239-3532

Surprisingly, many small businesses do not have a website. These business owners say, “I have a Facebook page so I don't need a website.” Facebook is a great tool for small businesses because it is free and pretty much everybody uses it.

But there are some things that Facebook just can't do for your business. Here are a few advantages to having a company website:

• You don't have ownership. Yes, it is your business page, but ultimately it is still owned by Facebook. Your page may get hacked or spammed, and if it accidentally gets deleted or shut down for some reason you have to start over. Also, you have to follow Facebook's rules and guidelines when it comes to promotions, but on your own website you make the rules.

How to use Pokemon Go to attract customers

By now you've heard of Pokémon Go, unless you've been living in a cave or stranded on an island in the south Pacific.  Driving through Pocatello yesterday I saw tweens and teens walking around in groups, eyes glued to their phones (even more so than usual), looking for the cute little animated creatures.

DMR reports that 78% of Pokémon Go users are between the ages of 18-34 and there are 20 million active users daily in the United States alone. This is a huge opportunity for small businesses!

Here's the basics of how Pokémom Go works:
A Pokémon, or pocket monster, is an animated animal-like creature. There are different types and

One of our tech guys getting in on the fun.

some are more rare than others. When a player downloads the app and signs in, the game uses the GPS on his or her phone to create a virtual map of the area.

The goal is to catch as many Pokémon as possible, so players walk around and using the map, find where the Pokemon are hiding. When the player gets in range of the Pokémon the app uses the camera function on the player's phone to put an animated picture of the creature in the scene, so it looks like it is really there.

When the player gets close enough to a Pokémon, they try to catch it by throwing a PokéBall. See that red and white ball in the photo to the right? Players swipe the phone screen to toss the ball and catch the Pokémon. But it is not as easy as it sounds, the Pokémon move! If you miss you have to throw another PokéBall, and you only have so many.

To get more PokéBalls and other fun add-ons, players visit PokéStops, which are marked on the virtual map created on your phone.

Players can visit PokéGyms to battle other players, use incense that attract rare Pokémon and level up as more and more are caught.

Brand admiration and how you can achieve it — FREE download

Marketing is not just about planning, creativity, good communication skills and organization — it’s also psychology. Think about the best experiences you’ve had with brands — quick responses to your questions, courtesy, professional, fun and interesting and makes a person feel good about his or herself. Brand admiration is building a brand that customers love and respect.

Brand admiration is important for several reasons. First, customers will want to remain loyal to your brand. They’ll tell their friends and family about the great experience they had with you, and they’ll tend to be more forgiving if you make a mistake. Having great brand admiration increases employee morale, increases profits, reduces competition and provides opportunity for brand extensions.

Sounds great, right? But how do you get there?

Let’s take a look at one of the world’s most beloved brands — Nike. Nike’s television ads are inspiring and relatable. Nike ads have depicted a young child practicing a sport, being encouraged by mom and then growing up to be an Olympian. Or someone deciding to start running every morning because they want to change his or her life and get healthier. Who could not be inspired by those things? And the mom encouraging the child to keep trying really tugs at the heart strings. It’s comforting, it connects on an emotional and personal level, and they really do make you feel like anyone and everyone is an athlete. Their slogan “Just Do It” is short and simple, catchy and embodies the brand.

Developing a marketing strategy

August 4, 2016

Sure, you've got a lot of great ideas about how you can communicate to the masses about your brand, products and services, but if you're like me they exist only in your head and are bouncing around in there like a beach ball at a folk rock festival.

This may have worked back when the only content consumers were exposed to was TV, radio, billboards and print, but now with more content than ever passing through more channels than ever reaching consumers has become more complex. Your marketing strategy must follow suit.

So why are you not writing it down? Post-It notes and the napkin at the coffee shop don't count. I'm talking about an organized, well planned documented and measurable marketing plan. Nearly half of marketers say they have a marketing plan, but that it is not documented, according to the Content Marketing Institute. CMI research has found, not surprisingly, that marketers with a documented marketing plan are more successful.

So where do you start? Here are 8 steps to build a content marketing strategy, courtesy www.marketingprofs.com

1. DEFINE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
   No surprise here, but you first need to know who you will be targeting to. You may wish that your target audience was “everybody,” but in reality there is a demographic of people who would more likely be interested in your product or service. Start by asking yourself if you would be better off targeting men or women or maybe both? What age group would be most interested in your product or service? What household income? Do they have children? By asking these questions your target audience will begin to take shape and you'll save time and money by marketing to the right people.

2. RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITORS AND MARKETPLACE
   Do a SWOT analysis. Define your company's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are more internal to your organization while opportunities and threats are external. This analysis will help to find ways to differentiate you from your competitors. Also, do some market research. Has there been a major downturn in the economy that may affect the way consumers spend their dollars? Is there a shortage of your product in another area that you can use to your advantage?
3. TELL YOUR STORY
   By now you should have not only a better idea of who your target audience is, but who you are as a company. Show some personality by telling your story. How and when did your company get started? What is your mission? Don't focus on stats and definitions, humanize your brand. More people can relate to “Our inspiration came to us in a garage in 1992” than “We have sold more that 1,000 products in the last month.”
4. CREATE ART/CREATIVE for your campaign. Pick colors and fonts that match your brand. Think outside of the box, but don't go overboard either! Beware of adding too much wording, but emphasize words like “free” or “new” that will draw people in.
5. PROMOTION
   It's all put together, now get it out there! Think about where your target audience will most likely see your message. Social media? Direct mail? Facebook is a great free resource for promoting your product or service. If you are worried about forgetting to post or if you're just too busy to post every day, use a service like Hootsuite that lets you create and schedule posts in advance. Just write them, schedule them and let it run! Hootsuite allows you to manage two social media streams for free and more if you purchase a membership.
6. MEASURE when possible. It is impossible to know how many direct mail pieces were actually looked at and how many were simply tossed into the trash. Website clicks, ad impressions, Facebook post reach and others can be measured, however. Make sure to note what your web stats, Facebook likes, etc. are before you launch the campaign to see how much it has increased.
   When your campaign wraps up make sure to take time to look back and see what you did well and what you could improve on next time.
   Do you have any marketing strategy tips? Share them with us!
   And visit our blog at www.isjmedia.net for more marketing tips.